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CB Telecommunications Review of U.S. Telecom Long Distance, Inc.
U.S. Telecom Long Distance, Inc.

U.S. Telecom Long Distance, Inc. review: Scamming Elderly w/ Long Distance Charges 11

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Author of the review
5:46 pm EDT
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My 91 year old mother received a third party letter from the above beginning "This letter is being sent to inform you of charges that were sent back to U.S. Telecom Long Distance Inc., by your local carrier. These are charges that you contacted your local phone company about that you were not aware of, or did not understand." They wanted $10.88 payment within 30 days from the receipt of the bill. This demand totally caught my mother off guard and she was going to pay the bill. I googled this company and there are many complaints and lawsuits - this company is owned by Priscilla Mraz (last name as of today) but the company name changes frequently. They have also done business under the name "Business Calling Plan, Inc.". I called the 800 number above and asked for Priscilla.. the woman told me that Priscilla was the owner and had a different number. She wanted my account number (my mother's phone number) to which I replied thanks for the verification that your company is indeed operated by the woman with whom numerous complaints had been written about and for verification that this was all a scam. End of conversation. My concern - will this scam artist be able to harm my mother's pristine credit record?

Update by kimberbl
Jun 14, 2011 5:46 pm EDT

In doing research on a scam involving U.S. Telecom Long Distance, Inc. geared towards the elderly I came across the name Qwest as a company that provides addresses of the elderly and assists US Telecom in scams involving false bills for long distance service... beware who you are dealing with.

11 comments
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Police Detective
, US
Aug 07, 2020 10:16 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I started receiving a bill from US TELECOM in the mail last May. I know for a fact, that US TELECOM is a scam and fraud. They are especially targeting the elderly. Being my mother's Power of Attorney (P.O.A.) I know for a fact there is no phone account in her name, so there CAN NOT be any bill attributed to her. Google "US TELECOM" or the number "[protected]" and you will see MANY sites that inform you they are a scam/thief organization preying on the elderly! No I have not paid this bill...No I will not pay any bill sent by this fraudulant company until they send me a copy of the signed and dated contract I agreed to.

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Marty Wagner
, US
Nov 30, 2017 2:25 pm EST

US Telecom Long Distance, USBI and Frontier Communications are all in this together. They are all apart of this scam.
Several years ago a US Telecom representative some how got my elderly father's name and number and called him. During this phone call US Telecom managed to manipulate my father into accepting the US Telecom service. He wasn't aware, nor did he understand what was being offered. He trusted the US Telecom representative. This US Telecom service then is billed via USBI to Frontier Communications and then Frontier Communications includes the charges on my father's monthly bill. ($15.41/month) I recently started paying the bills for my 90 year old father and started investigating these charges. I was on the line with Frontier for 48 minutes, eventually I demanded to talk to a supervisor. I told the supervisor that I wanted the USBI charges off. He said I need to talk the USBI. However, did you know that the Consumer Rights include that wireline telephone companies must "INFORM CONSUMERS OF ANY BLOCKING OPTIONS OFFERED FOR THIRD-PARTY BILLING". When I told this to the Frontier supervisor he set up my fathers account so that he could not be billed by a third party. We'll see if this is true on the next billing cycle. In addition I contacted USBI and asked that this service be removed. To their credit I was told by Andra at USBI that the service had been cancelled (conf # 1012). What a scam this crap is and it's being inflicted on the most vulnerable... our elderly. Check your billing statements.

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Seeking HONESTY
, US
Jul 31, 2017 3:39 pm EDT

As of July 31, 2017 They are STILL doing the same thing and have done so for 11 years to my boss! I just found out when I had a gut feeling about this company and its billing. I started searching them on the internet and found all kinds of fraud alerts! Yes, they are still pulling this baloney. Beware! Do not pay those bills, they are fraudulent and will also tell you you need a confirmation number in order to cancel, they have a different line every time you call and they NEVER cancel your so-called "service."
Who knows how much my boss has been paying all these years?
They will give you the line (Cynthia, Angie, Brenda…whatever their names are) that AT&T never cancelled their long distance service and they threw AT&T under the bus so to speak saying that it was their fault. That AT&T never informs them of a long distance switch (moving service from US Telecom to AT&T) and all kinds of false statements. Every time you call, you will receive a different answer or "spiel."
Do not fall for this fake company.

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jakejake
, US
Apr 07, 2017 2:41 pm EDT

These people suddenly began billing my mother in January saying she signed up in 2002. I told them to discontinue service immediately and that ATT claims no knowledge of their billing. Where is the government for shutting down this scam against the ederly!?

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Conquienhablo
, US
Aug 12, 2013 11:15 am EDT

I just received a call from these people claiming that they offer a discount to CA. This is a one time discount only. They claim I qualified for having had my line for such a long time with my same carrier. I just got the phone line! They don't have your info and need you to provide name on the bill and billing address. SCAM ALERT!

I told the Spanish speaking rep I wanted no contact with this company. That I read up on the Internet and she hung up!

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Bob Foucealt
Plymouth, US
Oct 02, 2012 12:49 pm EDT

I also sent back the charges from u.s. telecom and also recieved a letter from them, I have tried to call several times but keep getting a recording, they sent me an envelope to send a payment in but expect me to pay for the postage, nice try, no thank you I sent back the charges because : A- I did not contract with them B- I did not approve any of service from them contracted by anyone else C- I never to my knowledge used their service D- I have paid for any long distance calls made from my phone already and refuse to pay any additional charges, fees, or taxes applied by any one ...PERIOD..

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ScammedbyUSTelecomLongDistance
, US
Sep 30, 2012 4:49 pm EDT

We were unknowingly signed up for their service through Frontier, and upon cancelling promptly, we were charged $10.88 for the next three months. What a scam!

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arminavi
, US
Mar 19, 2012 8:08 am EDT

The company did the same thing to us. They are very good in hiding their charges through ATT bill. When we dropped ATT, they continued to bill us and that's how we learned that we were doing business with them all those years. We trusted ATT. Why they agreed to deceive their customers by collaborating with US Telecom Long Distance, we do not know.

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arely
, US
Feb 11, 2012 10:02 pm EST

my girlfriend just receive a letter saying she have been charge $9.38dollars in the bill we never have a home phone before the letter says is from u.s telecom long distance

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Customer Service, Inc
, US
Nov 03, 2011 12:05 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

We’re sorry you had a bad experience. Repeat business is the basis for any successful business and ours is no exception. Unfortunately we are unable to identify you from this complaint and want to encourage you to please call and give us another opportunity to address your needs and to make it “right.”

~U.S. Telecom [protected]

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david cassell
, US
Aug 09, 2011 9:49 am EDT

usa telecom is also trying to scam me my monthly bill is about 11 to 12 dollars a month because i am on lifeline package service from att now i get a phone bill for 121 dollars and it says 111 from telecom usa thats a bunch of bull crap i am not paying usa telecom anything since i did not ask for there service its all a scam dont fall for it and dont pay it.